Outside, the large tent sat in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds, surrounded by a winter garden of frosted plants, flowers, and a maze of hedges. Snow still covered the landscape and lined the trees, but the cobblestone paths through the garden and to the tent were dry and clear and dotted with hanging lights. Faint music drifted beyond the grounds to reach the entrance doors of the castle. Shadows and light joined the dancing couples drawn on the tent covering, hinting at life within.

Inside, it was a different story.

Inside, the tent was barely a tent at all, and seemed to stretch to the edges of the Forbidden Forest and all the way to Hogsmeade. The colorful coverings and drapes were not only romantic but sturdy, keeping the warm air in, and the glowing crystal formations provided light and warmth as well. Music blasted loudly enough to make the floor tremble. Cupids flitted near the round glass ceiling, ready to duck down and deliver goody-bags filled with candy and charms.

At exactly 8:00, the Spellpunk staff tucked the tent flaps back and ushered the students in! The attendants took their coats and casted drying spells on their shoes, while caterers manned the bars and weaved through the crowd with what looked like potion vials on trays. A stage waited at the end of the tent where the first band of the night was performing, setting the mood for the Three Owl Standard and others to play later. Tables and chairs encircled the dance floor, and booths all along the sides of the tent, representing the various Hogwarts clubs and special guests. Some booths were very open and inviting, while others were sequestered in their own little tent areas.

The Valentine's Day dance had officially begun!


(OOC Note: Please post your character's arrival here. Feel free to to have them start dancing and greeting people. You can also make separate threads for them (details). The next 'official' thread will introduce one of the big bands so you can cheer and swoon and all that!)

Fauna was one of the first to enter the tent, one arm linked with Fir's, and Quinn on his other side. Fir looked positively smug about this, though that wasn't too different from his everyday expression.

If some students expected her to  be bummed out because Devlin wasn't allowed at the dance, well, she had felt a little sad at the beginning. But going in a group with friends seemed just as fun, and she'd get to dance with whoever she wanted and be silly and eat too much.

Fir and Quinn. Best of both worlds!

Fauna handed her coat to an attendant and took a swag bag from a cupid, tying the love charm around her neck. Though the Glitterati's influence had caused her to pick something much more daring than she was used to, the color brought out the blue in her eyes, and she liked the way the bottom poofed out. Fauna felt slightly self-conscious, but excited, and tried to focus on not falling over in heels. Thankfully, walking arm in arm with her friends gave her some balance.

Seeing the tent lit up inside and hearing the music still made this a fun experience for her, even though she'd helped set up the booths and had seen the decorations before. Her shifts for the art booth and SAWS were a bit later in the evening, so she had time to enjoy the dance.

"This is going to be fun. I can just tell," she grinned at her dance partners, swinging Fir's arm a bit.

"What do you guys think of the SAWS booth? The flowers look alright, don't they?" They didn't look like the trellis had fallen over and smashed the petals, is what she meant. Because that had happened earlier!


(god-modding approved by Stef and Malia!)

"You know you love it really." Johann teased as he accompanied his muchly irritated cousin towards the tent out in the Hogwarts grounds. He was a little sad they had so far not run into anyone else he knew or had encountered on previous follies into the grounds of the vast castle. Ordinarily he wouldn't dream of attending an event predominantly pitched to students, but he'd been particularly invited, and this social life lark was quite entertaining. Turned out despite his irritating little ways, some people thought he was worth asking about, which made him feel very much at home in Britain at long last.

Of course not only was it interesting to irritate the hell out of Ignan, he could also do some more last minute spying on Adelia Delacroix, who he was set to meet at the post office the following morning. Mental note - do not get drunk.

"Don't even suggest it." Ignan replied sourly in German, meaning for their conversation not to be overheard and easily understood by the throngs of excited students who skittered by them and into the tent openings.
"Come on now, I've seen the photos of you. Enormous nose aside, you must have had a string of lady admirers..." Johann continued to tease, wondering how far he could push it before Ignan served him a smack to the back of the head like his Ignan's father had done to Johann a few times as a youngster when his mouth ran away with him at family gatherings. No, he seemed intent to glare at him instead.

Stepping inside, Johann felt glad of the warmth, but not of the noise. For some strange reason he'd not expected it to be quite so loud, but then again, once people filled the tent, it would be nicely muffled by flesh - and judging by some of the outfits, rather a lot of that was on show, appearing from beneath heavy winter cloaks. Both of them handed over their own heavy winter cloaks, Ignan having chosen to wear a slightly smarter version of his usual wizarding robes - in black, what else, and Johann wearing a sharp cut suit without a tie, never too keen on wizarding robes, all a bit heavy and flappy.

"Perhaps we'll bump into Madam Hooch, I'm sure she'll share your generation despising opinion. I reckon you've got a lot in common you know - both of you encourage students to knock the hell out of each other." Johann said in English, out of the blue, which was probably the cause of the reaction.

Smack. Oh there it was - but there was a hint of humour at the very edge of Ignan's clip round the ear.
"Ahh you old bastard!" He yelped, in German again, given his language.
"Don't moan, that's my prerogative this evening thank you." Ignan replied with a despondent English accent, "Blake, Cuween, McAvoy." He greeted the three students nearby out of politeness.

Niceties over, he needed to find a corner to retreat into where he didn't actually have to worry about what students were up to in dark corners with their over invested hormones, and even better, if he could lurk there with a few drinks - if he was forced to come along to supervise, the least he could be allowed was to do it at a distance. (Preferably with a telescope from his chambers in the castle, but apparently that wasn't considered attentive enough.)

Valentine's Day. No boyfriend. No Date. Father lurking around the school. Ruby's life had become a checklist of some twisted nightmare (made slightly worse by the fact her fifteen year old sister was playing grabass somewhere on campus with Figaro Sellaphix). However, she soothed her rumpled nerves with the idea that there were several people she knew without dates; and her father would be so busy freaking out about Sophie having her first boyfriend he might only have a minor coronary over the cut of Ruby's dress. Actually her plan (if he were even't to notice his eldest girl's ahem, assets on display) was to shout something like Da! Look! Sophie's snogging a midget. Ruby might have been eighteen but that didn't change the fact her father would be much happier if all his girls decided to live in Burkas.

She had arrived just before the trouble making trio - and felt herself brighten a little at the sound of Fauna's voice. If she'd been able to stomach time with Quinn at all she might have been a little hurt not to be included in the group. However; after everything with Johnn (and oh Merlin was he already tipsy and looking for a fight) she just couldn't look at the other girl in the same way. She didn't share Sophie's vehement loathing of McAvoy but she thought the whole situation was royally screwed. She really hoped John wouldn't make a scene... at least not with the Gryffindor. Ruby would have to kill him, slowly and painfully. Still, she was happy to see Fauna in such high spirits. Tonight might go better than the disaster that the SAWS mixer had dissolved into. She trotted over to the three new arrivals and extended her arms (one holding Fauna's valentine) to the other girl; "You look so sparkle-splosion! I love it".

"Ruby!" Fauna waved excitedly, giving her housemate a hug. Ruby was a welcome sight, especially in comparison to the shock of seeing a professor at the dance (she'd blinked at Storm for a few moments before managing a nod). It was very easy to forget that this was still a Hogwarts dance, so yes, old fogies would supervise, even though Fauna would rather she was in her own little bubble. A glitter bubble!

"You look, um, sparkly too!" Fauna grinned, trying not to look too surprised. They'd both stepped it up a notch for the dance, but Ruby looked classy as ever.

"And very pretty," she added, then glanced back at the Glitterati. "They helped me put the dress and everything together. I wouldn't have known what to do without them," she half-joked, throwing them a thankful smile. Fauna was still wearing something eye-catching on her head, but it was a feather headband, not one of her many animal hats. Fergie would be proud!

Fergie had been all nerves when he'd shown up in his holiday finery to ask Sasha to go with him to the dance as his official, public date. He hadn't exactly been sure how the Ravenclaw would react to that. And, to be honest, Fergie had his own reservations about making their relationship public knowledge. There was always the chance that it'd get back to his parents, which would mean there'd be hell to pay. And he knew Sasha was still not wholly comfortable with this liking boys thing. Or, liking a boy. Or both. Fergie had no desire to push the Ravenclaw too far and freak him out.

But damn it, it was Valentine's day, and he was sixteen and in love for the first time. Didn't he deserve the chance to be as obnoxious about it as every other Hogwarts student? He wanted to spend the evening with his boyfriend, without having to tiptoe around and make sure no one knew that he was. It had seemed worth at least asking.

And in the end it had paid off, because now he was about to enter the tent holding hands with the cutest boy at school (at least in his mush-tinted eyes). And you know what? This evening was going to rock. Not even the fact that Fauna Blake was the first person his gaze fell on when they stepped into the dance could ruin it. It helped that she seemed to be less embarrassingly attired tonight.

"Hello Fauna, Fir, Ruby," - Ruby's boobs. Seriously. She did know her dad was going to be here tonight, right? He didn't bother to greet Quinn. Her costume dress made up for the comparative normalicy of Fauna's attire, and he was afraid to look directly at it. "You guys know my date, of course." He beamed proudly at them, then up at Sasha. It was a stupid, obvious statement. He knew they all knew Sasha, or at least knew of him. But he didn't care if it got him odd looks. He was making up all in one night for the month he'd missed out on showing off his first boyfriend.

Arielle had been absolutely freezing outside the tent in the attire she chose to wear this evening. The blazer though stylish really didn’t do much for keeping a girl warm. Not to mention her exposed legs chilled to the bone. The walk to the tent had seemed rather treacherous due to the frozen ground and suitable heals. Arielle was dying to get inside the tent; only assuming it would be warmer than outside. Arielle was dateless, not that she minded much. It didn’t stop her from taking the energy to do her hair and makeup, along with making sure she had a stunning dress. Her shoes were picked last minute, and they definitely didn’t promise to be the most comfortable for the occasion. Originally she had entertained the thought of wearing red shoes in spirit of the holiday, but once decided upon her dress they surely would have clashed. Her red pumps remained hidden, waiting for use.

Upon arrival to the tent she ventured inside handing over her blazer at the feeling of warm air. Yes, she would be more than fine comfortable with her bare shoulders. She was pleased at the fine decorations and it promised to be a splendid evening. The first band playing was unknown to Arielle, but the music seemed pleasant enough. She smoothed out her dress as she surveyed the scene before her.

Fauna’s outfit definitely seemed shocking, not something Arielle expected to see Fauna dressed in. She wasn’t sure to make of the dress, but the shoes she had to admit she enjoyed. Arielle then noticed Ruby Flickwick and as she neared the older girl she became momentarily surprised at the neckline of her dress. Now that was daring when ones father milled about the grounds. At least Ruby was making a statement.

As Ferguson arrived Arielle could not help but smile, he looked stunning as always. “Ferguson you look stunning as always.” She said as she arrived to the group. Arielle probably seemed a bit of an outsider as she stepped towards the growing group. She looked at Quinn’s attire for the evening left much to be desired in Arielle’s opinion and she quickly diverted her attention to someone else. “I love your shoes Fauna,” she said before turning her attention to Sasha and Ferguson taking in the sight of the two of them. Arielle had to take a look at the pair of them and make her decision as to whether a pretty pair, or completely off base. Arielle nodded approvingly dubbing them to be suitable in appearance for each other and well dressed. It may not mean much to many but they got the Arielle seal of approval.

Now her attention darted over to Ruby and that neckline. "Hello Ruby. Quite the dress." She flashed a smile, which if Ruby knew well enough was a good thing when Arielle had been previously discussing fashion. "How are you?" It almost felt like forever since she had seen the older Flickwick girl. Granted she was in a different house and year.

He felt distinctly uncomfortable, both in his surroundings and with - well, with everything. The absence of his wedding ring was the worst part; he'd carefully put it on his dresser, just out of sight. Helping Cyhirae put her dress and hair together had felt distant and strange, and it shouldn't have. His daughter was looking forward to the ball and her cheerful exuberance should have cheered him up. He had a feeling she'd noticed his lack of ring, but nothing had been said. If she had asked - what could he say?

It felt odd to not have it on; he'd worn it for over a decade, even after Judy's death. But now, with Dolly here and everything they'd said - and done - it just didn't feel right to wear it, not when she was around at least. He could feel Judy's hands at his throat the moment he'd taken it off.

The clothes Dolly had sent him fit surprisingly well, and they were...probably stylish. He couldn't tell, in all honesty. Though it was nice to wear jeans to a semi-format event for once, and he actually had shoes on. But only because of the snow, and he didn't feel like getting his toes crushed by the dancers.

The ball was already underway when he finally got the willpower to leave the Astronomy Tower and trek out to the tent. Technically he was chaperoning, and escorting Dolly St. James as a guest; he had a quiet resolution to stick to that in his mind. This was not a date - he was an official of the school.

Yeah, right. And Dolly had asked him to escort her as an old friend. An old friend who'd -

He forced himself off that line of thinking. He'd been stewing in it off and on for what felt like weeks now - and this was supposed to be a happy occasion, right? He should be having...fun.

The tent was huge, lavish, and getting noisy quickly. The gaggle of students near the door caught his eye, and they got a quick greeting - with a quick glance of disapproval at the elder Flickwick's dress - before he made quickly for a less crowded area. He wasn't a big fan of crowds in the best of circumstances.

Ignan's form, sulking away in a corner, was a nice distraction from his turbulent mental state. He wandered over, dodging the moving groups of the students.

"I'm surprised, Ignan," he said, his smile wide and voice laced with a slightly darker mirth than usual. "I thought for sure you'd have been patrolling the grounds outside."

Sasha was nervous though he was making a strong, valiant effort to conceal (or, simply ignore) that nervousness.  His free hand was shoved into the pocket of his trousers to prevent it from constantly brushing at or fidgeting with non-existent specks of lint or wrinkles in his jacket.  Both hands were sightly clammy and damp from nerves though that fact would only be apparent to the one whose fingers  were interlaced with his own. 

If he thought about it too much, the sheer improbability of this moment would have been daunting to the point of being crippling.  The truth of the matter was, it wasn't that long ago that this moment would have, in fact, been utterly impossible.  The fear of the repercussions of this reaching home would have made this impossible to fathom.  It went without saying, therefore, that Sasha was forcing himself not to give this much thought.  He was here.  For the moment, that would have to be enough.  And, for the moment for him, the excited giddiness of the one standing next to him was enough to keep him grounded and motivated enough to keep moving forward into the tent. 

Sasha did share a good bit of Ferguson's excitement even if it wasn't as outwardly apparent.  Under the best of circumstances, Ferguson was, no doubt, the more expressive between the two of them.  For the time being, Sasha's own  enthusiasm was concealed under a well-schooled impassive mask.  Without the familiar routine, there would have been nothing to keep his eyes from darting towards every face they passed in a frantic vigil for the first sign of the disapproval, criticism or antagonism he assumed was inevitable. 

He let Fergie lead the way towards the cluster of students and towards the pending launch into public revelations.  And, apparently, the first people they'd be telling were a cluster of older students - Blake and Cuween prominent amongst them.  He approached the group with, in many ways, the same mindset he assumed when approaching a blind bank jump during cross country circuits: blind determination with little thought to whether you were going to land safely or get crushed under a thousand pounds of falling horse.  If you worried too much about the possible outcomes, you'd loose confidence and your horse will loose trust in you, making a fall inevitable. 

Fergie offered a greeting to the group at large, including Ruby, a seventh year Sasha only knew by appearances before now.  He offered the group a slight, nervous grin even as the warmth and color flooded his face.  Another fifth year approached their group and the color on his cheeks blazed and Sasha couldn't help but look down at his shoes awkwardly as she seemed to inspect them closely.  She said nothing, though, and Sasha looked back up a moment later, just in time to see her nod and turn to Ruby.  She didn't seem to disapprove.  Emboldened slightly by this development, Sasha glanced up and grinned slightly at Fergie before offering a quiet "'Allo," to the group at large. 

Ruby was acutely aware of the stares she got and suddenly felt rather self concious. Had it really been a good idea? Was she running around with LOOKIT MY GLITTER BEWBS flashing over her head? There were lots of other girls in shorter dresses with lower necklines... the normally repressed seventh year just wanted to push the envelope a little bit. Though when one is used to being background noise to a firework like Sophie...the spotlight was just freaking weird.

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear she gave a bright smile to Fir but her expression remained somewhere between neutral and cold toward Quinn. When the others arrived she felt a wave of relief she wouldn't actually have to speak to McAvoy in all likliyhood. She had to bite back a giggle at Fergie. He was just too adorable. She wondered if that was how Sophie planned on showing up with Fig, all giggles and See! I have a boyfriend I am so grown up and cool now. Oh Fifth years. How they amused her. The long and dirty look from Professor T was the final needle that popped her bubble. "Ahem, I should probably go make sure Da's eaten something...and not planing on taking off his shirt tonight. Merlin knows what he's capable of when there is a chance to mortify three of us," giving Fauna an air kiss on the cheek she made a hasty retreat trying to decide if she should go change or just let everyone give her the evil eye all night.

Outfit

Quinn loosely linked Fir's arm, biting her blue bottom lip with excitement. Usually it was just the two trotting to social events, making a scene, causing a ruckus and leaving with chaos in their wake - but this year, they had Fauna onboard. And what a pleasure it had been. The blonde had scrubbed up quite well for the event (in her own way, of course), with her hair less straggly and more preened than usual, and uncharacteristically donning a pair of heels that made her tower a few inches about Fir and Fauna.

"The SAWS booth looks fine, mate," she sighed, giving Fauna's shoulder a squeeze of confidence. Tonight, she wouldn't need to worry about anything - it was strictly fun-times only ahead. A familiar face came into view and Quinn kept her head up, keen not to make any eye contact whatsoever. Ruby Flickwick. The last thing Quinn wanted was a brawl with the banshees of the Flickwick family - it was time to leave all that horrible business in the past.

As the group of friends conversed, Quinn rolled her eyes, placing a hand on Fir's shoulder and half-whispering, half-giggling in his ear.
"I'm going to find Lou and Grace before any more members of the 'I Hate McAvoy' club turns up." Winking at him mischeviously, Quinn didn't bother saying bye to any of the faces there. For Quinn, it was a particularly demure exit from the situation (no wisecracks and no over-the-top dramatics); it was time for some contraband fun with Carter and Eddy.

"I'm surprised, Ignan, I thought for sure you'd have been patrolling the grounds outside."

Tapendra addressed him in his dark corner.
"No, apparently they're none too keen for me to find any more bodies in the snow." He replied dryly, still somewhat troubled and irritated by what he and Tapendra had encountered and been put through since dealing with Schlagenweit and Grosvenor going missing at the start of the month.

Johann had supplied him a triple measure of Ogden's firewhiskey, which Ignan was nursing in a corner, in return for slipping off to explore and eavesdrop on conversations. Ignan thought it was fair exchange, Johann was responsible for himself now he worked for the Ministry, despite being Ignan's guest on a technicality.

"With any luck, if I put in an appearance now, nobody will miss me later when I leave in about ... half an hour." He told Tapendra with a deadpan expression and tone, and then sighed, raising his eyes to look at his younger friend properly.

"You look a little... different, if you don't mind me saying so, Tapendra. Did your daughter have something to do with it?" Ignan asked curiously.

"Hah! I don't blame you," Tappy said, rubbing one of his arms. "At least you can leave. I'm expected all night long - but then again..." he glanced off into the crowd. He'd seen what Georgiana had come in and the girl had a big lecture coming if she thought 'corset with some frills on the bottom' counted as a dress.  "It'll be nice to get away from the noise."

"You look a little... different, if you don't mind me saying so, Tapendra. Did your daughter have something to do with it?" Ignan's tone was curious and the nervous start it prompted in Tapendra was fairly noticeable. He fingered one of the zippers for a moment as he hesitated to answer. Then he figured being semi-honest was the best route.

"Part of my job tonight is to...escort Miss St. James," he said, finally, with a wave at the elaborate throne-like booth Dolly had set up. "She insisted I look the part," he glanced down at the jacket and shrugged. "Looks a bit silly, doesn't it? I'm not sure I want to know what the price tag looked like."

Myrni was torn. As head of house, she felt a certain obligation to attend the Valentine's Day Ball at school because she knew that her students had a knack for getting into trouble. Recalling what had happened at the Halloween Ball months before had not put her mind anymore at ease and so she felt an even greater sense of urgency to serve as a chaperone for the event.

On the other hand, it was Valentine's Day and Myrni was well aware of its importance to any individuals who considered themselves as one half of a couple, which Myrni did. And with the strain on her relationship as high as it was of late due to Oscar's antics since Christmas, Myrni could not help but feel a pull towards wanting to forget all about the ball and instead spend the evening with Nathan.

She decided that a compromise was best. She would go to the ball and spend enough time there to ensure her Gryffindors didn't terrorize the place and set them back any further in the house points and then when there was a calm moment, she would be free to head off to have a romantic dinner with her fiancee.

Her dress had been chosen in an effort to be appropriate for both events. It was conservative yet sophisticated enough to befit her position as a professor but it was also lovely enough to accentuate her best features to hopefully be visually appealing to the man she loved.

With a sigh, Myrni smoothed her hands down the front of her skirt and stepped inside the tent where the ball was being held. She paused just inside, glancing around to see where she should head first.

Not seeing any student misbehavior to attend to, Myrni spotted a few of her fellow professors congregated together. She headed over to where Storm and Trishna were speaking in a corner and caught the tail end of their conversation as she approached.

Clasping her hands together in front of her, Myrni cleared her throat and greeted them, "Hello, gents. Is this where all the teachers are gathering? Destined to be wallflowers for the evening?" She flashed them both a friendly smile. She got along well with both men and hardly minded the idea of being in their company at length. Hearing Trishna mention the famed authoress who had been his date, Myrni peered in the direction of where she had taken up residence. Then her expressive eyes returned to the two professors. "You both look quite dapper this evening."

Without really thinking or even considering it might make him uncomfortable, Myrni impulsively reached out to gently adjust how the lapel of Tapendra's jacket lay. "I don't think it looks silly at all."

Fauna saw the linked hands first. Then the two boys' smiling faces (Fergie's looked glowing, while Sasha's red cheeks matched Fergie's tie. Color coordinated!). Her eyebrows raised in surprise for a moment, but she smiled back at them, relieved that they seemed too wrapped up in the fun of the night to pay much attention to her dress. Still, she adjusted her headband self-consciously.

"Hi," she replied simply, waving at Ruby when she left, and glancing around in confusion for a second when she noticed Quinn had disappeared as well.

"Your suits look really nice," Fauna told Sasha and Fergie, then gave Arielle a nervous smile after hearing the compliment.

Fauna didn't know if she should comment on the boys arriving as dates, or if she should just stick to small talk. Telling them she was glad Callum's nasty comments in the Great Hall hadn't deterred them from getting together would likely not go over well. Nor would 'high-five for experimentation!' No, she'd leave that type of comment to Fir.